Before leaning on the railing, the invited guest had not drawn attention to himself. When he was asked to move away from the railing, he obeyed and sat down. The behaviour of the invited guest did not lead the crew to believe that he would repeat the dangerous action. The policy of the vessel is to handcuff and incarcerate belligerent passengers until the harbour police can take them into custody. The lifebuoy was thrown near the victim and, as dusk set in, the lifebuoy light proved to be a good reference mark. The victim initially swam away from the lifebuoy. When he became exhausted, he concentrated on conserving his energy, trying to keep afloat and he did not attempt to swim toward the lifebuoy. Fortunately, the master saw the invited guest fall overboard. The master kept the victim in view throughout the SAR operation. Both the LOUIS JOLLIET and the ST.ANDRE lowered a lifeboat manned by a crew ready to intervene. As neither lifeboat was power-driven, both vessels decided to stand-by and let the cutter STERNE carry out the rescue operation. The cutter took seven minutes to reach the scene. The victim was in the water for approximately 12 minutes and, as a result, suffered from mild hypothermia and exhaustion when rescued.Analysis Before leaning on the railing, the invited guest had not drawn attention to himself. When he was asked to move away from the railing, he obeyed and sat down. The behaviour of the invited guest did not lead the crew to believe that he would repeat the dangerous action. The policy of the vessel is to handcuff and incarcerate belligerent passengers until the harbour police can take them into custody. The lifebuoy was thrown near the victim and, as dusk set in, the lifebuoy light proved to be a good reference mark. The victim initially swam away from the lifebuoy. When he became exhausted, he concentrated on conserving his energy, trying to keep afloat and he did not attempt to swim toward the lifebuoy. Fortunately, the master saw the invited guest fall overboard. The master kept the victim in view throughout the SAR operation. Both the LOUIS JOLLIET and the ST.ANDRE lowered a lifeboat manned by a crew ready to intervene. As neither lifeboat was power-driven, both vessels decided to stand-by and let the cutter STERNE carry out the rescue operation. The cutter took seven minutes to reach the scene. The victim was in the water for approximately 12 minutes and, as a result, suffered from mild hypothermia and exhaustion when rescued. The company has a policy which ensures that the behaviour of passengers will not affect their safety or the safety of other passengers, crew and vessel. The consumption of alcohol affected the invited guest's behaviour. The invited guest's action was deliberate and unpredictable. The master and crew reacted appropriately to the man overboard situation. A lifeboat is not a launch adapted to the recovery of persons in the water. The victim was suffering from mild hypothermia and exhaustion when rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard cutter.Findings The company has a policy which ensures that the behaviour of passengers will not affect their safety or the safety of other passengers, crew and vessel. The consumption of alcohol affected the invited guest's behaviour. The invited guest's action was deliberate and unpredictable. The master and crew reacted appropriately to the man overboard situation. A lifeboat is not a launch adapted to the recovery of persons in the water. The victim was suffering from mild hypothermia and exhaustion when rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard cutter. The invited guest impulsively jumped overboard from the LOUIS JOLLIET into the harbour while his judgement was impaired by his consumption of alcohol.Causes And Contributing Factors The invited guest impulsively jumped overboard from the LOUIS JOLLIET into the harbour while his judgement was impaired by his consumption of alcohol.